This letter is to request that all Members of Parliament work cooperatively with all other Members of Parliament from across the political spectrum, to ensure a safe and proper approach to the use of fluoride. Â We ask this in the interest of protecting New Zealanders.

The Science has changed

An important study published this year in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives by a team of investigators at the Universities of Toronto, McGill, and the Harvard School of Public Health, has found a significant association between fluoride exposure in pregnancy and lower measures of intelligence in children [1]. The US National Institute for Health funded this US$3 million study to specifically investigate developmental neurotoxicity.

The study is the first by the U.S. Government in 60 years into potential adverse neurological effects. It adds to the published evidence indicating widespread adverse effects from fluoride involving all stages in life from pre-birth to old age. They include, amongst other effects, confirmed neurological impairment including: loss of IQ; hypothyroidism; musculo-skeletal fluorosis diagnosed as arthritis; and dental fluorosis. This element is present due to an unlimited consumption of fluoridated water; in toothpaste; in tea; in pharmaceuticals; and in the commercial food chain.

PSGR is a not-for-profit, non-aligned charitable trust whose members are science and medical professionals. Since the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification to proceed with caution PSGR has maintained a watching brief on the scientific developments in genetic engineering (also referred to as genetic modification).

Genetically engineered organisms

This letter is to request that all Members of Parliament work cooperatively with all other Members of Parliament from across the political spectrum, in order to ensure a precautionary approach to the use of genetically engineered organisms. We ask this in the interest of protecting New Zealand's GE-free production and natural environment, and the economic advantage of a GE-free status for our export markets.

The proposed National Environmental Standard for Plantation Forestry (NES-PF)

In this submission, we refer to questionable and conflicting legal aspects, and those sections of the NES-PF that call for a reduction or loss of consent oversight to local authorities, in particular where it involves consent on the release into the environment of trees that have undergone DNA manipulation (NES-PF 6.4; pp 64, 82). Such authority must remain with local authorities elected to meet the requirements of their local community, industries, forest owners, farmers, non-governmental organisations, iwi involved in managing unique local environments; in fact, any person or organisation with a vested interest in protecting an environment.

An open letter from Physicians and Scientists for Global Responsibility New Zealand Charitable Trust to the government of New Zealand regarding our request that New Zealand not be made a signatory to the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement.

As a group of scientists and physicians, PSGR calls upon parliamentary MP’s to represent patient's best interests to the government. We also call upon the government to ensure an independent assessment of the health impacts of the TPPA is undertaken and to reveal the contents of the negotiations to the public.

1 We are a voice in good company

We join our medical colleges and organizations across the world that are deeply concerned about the potential for the TPPA to vastly limit access to medications to millions, if not billions of people in the signatory countries. We call for the government to hold an independent and public health assessment of the TPPA prior to signing this agreement. We do so together with:

·MSF (Medicines San Frontiers),

·the Public Health Association of New Zealand (PHA)

·the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO)

·the NZ Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS), and

·a wide range of health professionals and organisations who have recently petitioned the government for an independent assessment of the health impacts of the TPPA which includes: 425 independent medical professionals writing to the Prime Minister; 60 public health academics and practitioners writing to the Minister of Health; 270 senior doctors, professors, and other health professionals writing to the Prime Minister; the New Zealand Medical Association (approximately, 5000 members), all supporting the call for an independent assessment of the TPPA’s impact on our health system.

The application of genetic engineering technology alters the DNA of a living organism in ways which are much more radical than what occurs due to the generally incremental, slow processes of natural evolution. It does this in a way that is inevitably disruptive to some degree as a result of the essentially random insertion of transgenic (or cisgenic) DNA into the functional DNA of a host organism. It may cause noticeable changes in the appearance of the organism and/or differences in the biochemistry and physiology of the organism. These changes are unpredictable and may result in the production of new proteins within the transgenic organism with potential toxic effects,

When transgenic organisms are released into the environment transgenes can be transferred to other organisms so that the engineered characteristics spread through the eco-system. Farmers in the US face having to eradicate weed species that have developed herbicide-resistant traits, including some with resistance to multiple herbicides. These so-named ‘superweeds’ can grow aggressively and out-compete transgenic crops, and now infest large tracts of agricultural land. The over-application of herbicides and pesticides to transgenic crops has increased substantially the volume of agricultural chemicals used and this has aided in the development of weeds resistant to those chemicals.